Hodson made his first start of the World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday as Michael O’Neill’s side crashed to their first Group C set-back in a 2-0 loss.

But the 25-year-old, who moved to Ibrox during the summer from MK Dons after spending part of last season on loan at Kilmarnock, insists Northern Ireland showed character after losing both goals inside 17 minutes.

(Pic: @NorthernIreland)

Speaking to @NorthernIreland, Hodson said: “I was excited when I was told I’d be playing but you just have to take it as another game and you can’t think about it too much.

“I just looked at is as another game but it was a great experience for me to play against the world champions.

“The lads showed their character and we dug in deep after the second goal. We created a few chances on the counter attack.

“We’ll take the positives out the game and take them into November. November (against Azerbaijan) is a big game for us to try and take three points in Belfast.

“We want to give ourselves the best opportunity to be as high as we can and if we win, that will put us second in the group going into the new year.”